Interesting fact for the newsletter, I have labelled it Summer though infact Autumn has officially started… its just not as fast as it will be come September. Its been a quiet past month or two for gaming related news, then we found Global Agenda and decided to try it -at least 9 of us have it now. Now Gamescom 2010 is in full swing, lets see what it has offered us…

But first…Global Agenda, we’ve struggled to say what this game is, it pulls a lot from so many games. The art-style reminds me of Mass Effect (I guess standard sci-fi), yet the PvP of little I have played reminds me of a third person TF2; and then perhaps its only me, but fighting some of the robots and things gives me a System Shock 2 feel.

Gamescom 2010
Guild Wars 2
This is currently on, I haven’t yet managed to catch a video of the Guild Wars 2 live demo yet – its proven to be shy when I am about. You can find some coverage over on the ANet Blog, keep an eye on GWGuru and INCGamers too. We also have regular postings in our GW2 forum.

There are a bunch of walkthrough videos on GT which run you through the race, class, specialty section of character creation and levels 1 through 10. Though character customisation is excluded (for now its just randomised). Necromancer is the 4th playable class, for those potentially interested

DungeonsLogaan covered this and it now has a teaser trailer. Its humor looks to mirror that of Dungeon Keeper, which people who played have fond memories of (I played 2).

F1 2010
I have been watching this though I am still unsure of whether I want it or not, it certainly looks nice – though I half expect GRID2 to be announced right after release New trailer anyway, it certainly looks nice and more complete with this years cars:http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=702912

Torchlight II
I’ve played the demo of Torchlight I, though others have the full version – as the video states there is one thing it really lacks that would (for me) improve it tenfold… multiplayer! Co-op in this case. Seems they are remedying that little problem in this version…http://www.gametrailers.com/remote_wrap.php?mid=703070

Happy New Year!
Its 2010 folks! Hope you aren’t suffering too much from overdoing the drink Lets make 2010 a good year for gaming, its the start of a new decade – we’ve got some forum developments still underway, and some new ones planned.

I covered some of the Autumn game releases of last year, but the sad truth is the so-called competition from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has left some game developers a little suspicious of Christmas, hence most releases now are coming in a once very vacant time of year… January -> August. Arguably making the post Christmas/Spring lineups now rather crowded! So what are people keeping an eye out for?

My personal favourites are:

Aliens vs. Predator – it was handed back to Rebellion (makers of AvP1), who have scrapped any naming/sequel to just go back to Aliens versus Predator. It looks like they are doing a sterling job of it [video].

Mafia 2 – I played the original, and loved it. Mafia 2 seems to be improved in most ways and still pretty true to its prequel [video].

Mass Effect 2 – Of course this has to be on here, a mixed RPG/Shooter and made by BioWare… the first game got my attention for its fantastic storyline and visuals [Cinematic Trailer].

There are plenty more, but I will likely make a dedicated topic closer to the new year for that.

Competition Announcement:
The logo competition has been extended to the end of January. Currently we have too few entries to really want to judge them just yet, and its close proximity to Christmas/New Years could make it difficult for both entrants and judges. So the deadline is the 31st of January 2010, we hope to see more entries – just remember the guidelines.

Please do not post entries in this topic, please keep them in the competition thread – we will not be judging it otherwise. We would also like to remind people that allies are allowed to enter if they wish to do so.

Windows 7:
Windows 7 is recently released – with support for DX11 and improved performance over Vista (plus very few of the launch problems of Vista) this is one worth having. Both the 64bit and 32bit version is packaged in the same box now (so no ordering separate upgrade discs as before) – furthermore those buying it from the EU, you now have no need to worry about your web-browser – the proposed ballot box system has been completely cancelled.

Autumn Game Releases:
If you are looking for some recommended games to get over this autumn then look no further:

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 –
This is probably a highly anticipated sequel to Infinity Ward’s CoD: Modern Warfare, its expected to be a big hit for this Christmas – although be warned PC gamers, they took away our beloved Dedicated Servers. Discuss it in the games forum (no sub-forum).

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising –
We’ve got it, and with the exception of its flawed multiplayer system and slightly buggy release, we love it. There is now a OFPDR Forum with some links, discussion and custom missions by us Exilers.

Left 4 Dead 2 –
A number of us have this on preorder through the buy 4 for £80 (approx £20.25 for each), while there is some minor concerns its undoubtedly more zombie killing than we’ll be able to handle this year. Don’t forget we have a L4D Series forum.

Aion: Tower Of Eternity –
Probably the hottest MMO out there right now, subscription based and winging it for glory. Join our discussion over at the Aion Forum.

Borderlands –
Co-op is all the rage, and this one has that, its an FPSRPG (First Person Role Playing Shooter). Once again it has a very similar offer to L4D and is made by Gearbox. Discuss it in the games forum (no sub-forum).

Logaan’s site will have a redirect from the domains he set up – but we urge you to update your bookmarks. Furthermore any links you find that may be broken or ineffective please contact Logaan, TSM or RavenIII.

Issue #13 – 31/03/09
Welcome to another issue of the Exilers Newsletter. News from around the exiled universe, right to your… eyes.

Men Down!
12 members have been booted from the UiE Guild (Guild Wars) due to inactivity of 2 months. For anyone who plans to play less Guild Wars and spread their wings a little in the gaming traverse – don’t forget UiE has a Steam Community (primarily Left 4 Dead) and a small presence in Sacred 2. Some members have received open re-invites – if you wish to gain a re-invite, please contact one of the officers, and in view of this we have a Poll to debate guilds future.

UPDATE – AFF to UiE Merge:
Recent events have seen some members of AFF join UiE. AFF has been disbanded or stripped down – and removed from the alliance. We want to remind alliance members of the rules, guild-hopping is strongly advised against; with rare exceptions such as this – and the go-ahead for any merge/hop must be agreed upon by all sides and alliance members.

Runes Of Magic:[Runes Of Magic website]
Pete and Mike are both playing this free to play MMO, which appears to be quite popular currently. For more information contact one or the other and I’m sure something can be sorted out ingame. This game is an RPG and does offer a variety of mixable classes, it also seems to be one of the higher quality free-to-play MMOs – please post any reviews/discussions in the Gaming General forum!

Game News:
Worries that these next few months could be dry of news have been proven wrong, I feel hydrated already. Just to bring you a quick summary:

Welcome to a new issue jam-packed with updates following the Christmas game-release rush, and the recent media rush for a number of new games!

Site Update:
The forum has had a bit of a cleanup, more may still be on the way; if anyone has any wishes or comments on the development of our site, please shout up! What do you love? what are you not fussed on? or do you hate it?

New Game Media:
Considering most developers and publishers have been quiet over the past few months, there has been a rather large storm of new media over the last couple of weeks. Just some of the games to keep an eye on are:

Mass Effect 2
It may only be a teaser trailer, but it has been the source of much speculation.

Operation Flashpoint 2
Including a number of new videos (some of which seen before), and ingame footage (WIP).

Tom Clancy’s HAWX
Keep a hold of your seat, the XBox 360 demo is out; the PC and PS3 demos are out later this month/week.

Guild Wars 2 Updates:
While there hasn’t been any solid new information, screenshots or videos… there has been a number of posts by Regina (the new Community manager), stating:

It is not vapour ware:
A number of GWGuru members started rumours of GW2 being vapour ware, apparently Regina has played it – it isn’t vapour ware, and ANet are not ready to show it off just yet.

If that wasn’t enough:A recent NCSoft financial statement has collectively shook the communities’ boots when it stated that GW2 was set for a 2010/2011 release thanks to finances. Apparently this isn’t the case, its just a potential window of release to satisfy investors.

UiE Status:
With the potential release date of Guild Wars 2 being a while off, and games always have a limited amount of play time for the masses; Guild Wars is no longer a primary game for Universe In Exile.

This does not mean we won’t be playing it, it means the focus has shifted slightly away from Guild Wars, even if it is only temporary until the release of Guild Wars 2. This forum will remain and we hope you will too – don’t forget to check out the Games Forum for other gaming titles we are now playing.

Welcome to another issue of the Exilers newsletter! We hope you had a good Christmas and New Year!

New Games:
Exilers’ around the globe have got a fair number of games in their stockings, among the lucky few games there is the benign Sacred 2, the unholy Left 4 Dead, and the sinner which is Grand Theft Auto 4.

More Community Sites:
It seems we are popping up all over the place (ooer); we are now appearing on the Steam community site, our page is located here. A thread will appear soon in the alliance forum about gaining access!

Left 4 Dead / Steam Community:
RavenIII can now host a server for Left 4 Dead on a temporary – when needed basis. This server will be linked to and exclusive for our steam group; the group is invite only, a list of administrators can be found in the member forum.

RAW also has a L4D server, although it is currently in the public domain.

Guild Wars Developer Updates::
This week the Guild Wars Live team have released a news update detailing some of the changes to come in Guild Wars; as if making a number of titles account-based wasn’t enough!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We hope you enjoy your holidays and new years day, you may even see some rare faces appear on Guild Wars for the events!

New Faces:
The UiE alliance would like to welcome Snake Dance [SD] and Lord Of Forgiveness [LoF] into its fold. There are blankets over there near the fireplace, unfortunately Oink has beaten us all to the hot chocolate powder so its coffee and tea for now!

Wintersday:
Guild Wars has launched its wintersday event starting today (around the time of this posting), so we hope to see plenty of you online, more information about the event can be found [here].

Build Manager (Alpha):
Logaan has been working on a Guild Wars Build Manager, which is still in Alpha, but do check it out and help us bug test it and request some [sensible] features! More information [here: alliance members only]

UiE Community Sites Sort Out:
UiE has had a little rejig of our various public sites, updates include:

Our UiE Wiki has had the front-page updated and now has an updated games list (for UiE).
Feel free to add to our wiki, as long as it isn’t spammy!

That just about sums up the updates for now, in terms of community sites.

Heirarchy Jiggle:
Recent events and conclusions have seen UiE have another rejig of the officers system. A few officers have been deemed too inactive in Guild Wars to remain officers within Guild Wars.

But the difference here is they are still active, both on the forum and through xfire. Hence they are also active in terms of gaming within UiE. This is reflected in their forum group, they are now “Universe In Exile [UiE] Clan Officers”.

Demotions and Promotions:
Due to the Heirarchy Jiggle there has been some demotions and promotions, firstly Rose Dragoness have been demoted; this I must reiterate is a voluntary choice, Emergency Call was demoted to a clan officer, but has been promoted back in Guild Wars to an officer. Pac has been demoted, his real life has taken over.

Promotions include Marcus Varitas and Petrus Rockstone, these two new officers are filling in PvP Officer roles.

Message from the Editor:
I’d like to apologise for the lack of an issue last month, I’ve been particularly busy and have not heard much from the Guild Wars front.